Mind control techniques were first introduced by the German spy agencies during the 2nd World War. The Nazi doctors used them in the Dachau concentration camp to subvert the minds of Jews, and imperialist Japan in Japanese concentration camps. The CIA, KGB and MI-5/6 then perfected these mind-controlling techniques on their own people and the captured prisoners of war. CIA has carried out a series of projects starting from the 1953 project under Allen Dulles to manipulate brain functions. The purpose is to alter human behavior and to subdue/control human minds.
The CIA is still continuing with this practice despite the ban imposed by the US Supreme Court in 1964. Even school students are administered sedative injections to numb their minds. KGB, now called FIS/SVR, is also resorting to this gory practice. This methodology is used to execute subversion and espionage. Suicide bombers and bomb planters are brainwashed and made amnesic. Important leaders of the developing world are mind cloned to make them dance to their tunes.
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India’s penchant for subversive tactics
India which had refused to reconcile with the existence of Pakistan has waged wars and conflicts to break up Pakistan. It has also been fervently engaged in the evil practice of subversion against Pakistan since 1947, and even before during the British Raj.
It used this tool to keep Pakistan politically destabilized and economically weak. Slow poisoning is done to create misgivings and distrust in the minds of the Pakistanis, to breed disillusionment, frustration, and despondency, and to inject hatred in their minds against other sects so as to deepen cleavages in the society.
Pre-1971 and post-1971 Subversion
In order to emasculate the largest Muslim State and to disprove Two-Nation Theory, East Pakistan was chosen as the first target to separate it from Pakistan. It took India 24 years to instill deep-rooted hate into the minds of Bengalis against West Pakistan. Sheikh Mujibur Rahman became a pawn of India to achieve its goals. Over 80% of the war in East Pakistan was won by the Indian military on the psychological plane and proxy war.
After accomplishing its objective of creating Bangladesh in December 1971, RAW started making inroads in other smaller provinces of truncated Pakistan by exploiting their socio-economic grievances and stirring up fissiparous tendencies and provincialism. RAW supported the Jeeay Sindh movement, the Baloch insurgency in the 1970s, the 1983 MRD movement in Sindh, and MQM militancy in Karachi-Hyderabad. The Saraiki movement in southern Punjab and the Balwaristan movement in Gilgit Baltistan (GB) was also supported. GB was accessed from Siachin Glacier captured in 1984.
RAW carried out sabotage and subversion in Sindh directly due to border contiguity. It joined hands with KGB and KHAD in the 1970s to support the insurgency in Baluchistan and the Pashtunistan movement in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).
India has continued to subvert Pakistan’s Islamic culture through its film and music industry and pornography. To make Pakistan’s arid lands barren, India is resorting to water terrorism by building dozens of dams in Indian-occupied Kashmir over the three rivers of Pakistan.
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Taking a leaf out of Kautilya’s book Arthashastra, which advocates befriending enemies of enemy countries, Indian leaders befriended Afghanistan, Iran and later on the Arab Gulf States to be able to encircle Pakistan, launch multi-directional cross-border terror attacks and also to diplomatically isolate it.
Sabotage & subversion after 9/11
Once the US-NATO occupied Afghanistan in 2001, RAW in collusion with other intelligence agencies carried out a massive covert war from Afghan soil against Pakistan. All the strategic partners (USA, NATO, Israel, India, and Afghanistan) had common objections to destabilizing Pakistan politically, weakening it economically, bleeding its security forces through paid proxies, denuclearizing it and then Balkanizing it.
When the US made Muslims specific new laws on terrorism and launched a global war on terror to destroy seven Muslim countries, it greatly facilitated India’s subversive activities in Pakistan and in Kashmir. CIA, MI-6, Mossad, BND, RAW and NDS in unison made plans to destabilize Pakistan and demonize its nuclear program through proxies, drones and media war.
Opening the security gates for the CIA and FBI in 2002 by Pakistan enabled the two agencies to establish a wide intelligence network all over Pakistan, induct Blackwater and other intelligence agencies and carry out their subversive activities unchecked. It enabled foreign intelligence agencies to penetrate into each and every government department as well as the armed forces and the political parties.
Cultivation of Pakistan’s media
From 2003 onwards, foreign powers funded Pakistan’s electronic media substantially and made it advance their agenda compliantly. Over 100 TV channels and foreign-funded NGOs played a big role in promoting foreign narratives based on half-truths and falsehood with a view to dividing the society, demeaning Islam, spreading obscenity, weakening morality, popularizing liberalism, deflecting the youth towards the life of fun and frolic, spread gloom and doom and to portray Pakistan as an extremist country and a failing state.
4th generation war was launched through Pakistani media, pseudo-intellectuals, NGOs and think tanks to polarize politics, to accentuate the secular-Islamic divide, play the sectarian card and divide them ethnically and religiously, undermining Islamic values. Secularism in Pakistan was promoted under the garb of enlightened moderation and modernism with a view to show the soft face of Pakistan to the West.
In order to undermine the integrity of the nation and the image of the army and ISI, the minds of the people were gradually poisoned against the premier institutions, and efforts were made to trigger a clash between the power centers and to spoil civil-military relations.
Foreign-funded Pakistani electronic media, later on, fused with social media, merrily promoted foreign agenda by selling the tutored narratives and fake news to build choice perceptions, glamorize western and Indian cultures, and make settled issues controversial, all in a bid to contaminate social fabric and Islamic culture and to destroy national unity. All this was achieved under the guise of freedom of press/expression and women’s rights.
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Indo-Afghan-US media nexus opened up ‘Indian Chronicles’ in Brussels comprising 750 fake websites and hundreds of fake NGOs in 2005 to project Pakistan as an epicenter of terrorism and an abettor of terrorism and the most dangerous country in the world. The nexus painted India and Afghanistan as victims of terrorism. Pakistan was blamed for the instability in Afghanistan.
Refurbishment of Subversive techniques
India has been constantly refurbishing its subversive techniques and upgrading its propaganda war from first, to 2nd, to 3rd to 4th and now the 5th generation war, which is a mix of kinetic and non-kinetic energies. It doesn’t target the cities, properties and war materials. It doesn’t use missiles, bombs, fighter jets and tanks. The hybrid war makes use of the pen and media to achieve the objectives.
Psychological warfare is conducted during peacetime inconspicuously and secretly to weaken the enemy mentally and to break the will to fight. It is essentially slow-poisoning of minds and mind-cloning. After 9/11, this silent weapon was used under the cover of terrorism.
Failure of conspirators
The Indo-US-Afghan-West-Israel nexus failed to achieve its major objective of making Pakistan unstable, and paving grounds for international intervention to humble Pak armed forces and disable Pakistan’s nuclear program.
Earlier efforts made by pitting rebellious tribesmen of former FATA and interior Baluchistan against the security forces failed to achieve desired results since Pak Army did wonders in defeating foreign-backed terrorism and earning world acclaim.
Pakistan’s center of gravity
The conspirators came to the conclusion that Pakistan’s center of gravity resided in the Army, and unless this pivot that guarded the nuclear assets was enfeebled, no headway could be made to extract the nuclear teeth.
A plan was hatched to penetrate the impregnable fort of the army and to create divisions within its ranks and to exacerbate civil-military relations.
Subversion of educated urbanites
The master planners decided to subvert the urban-educated middle working class, the girls, women and the youth and through them, create fissures in the rank and file of the army.
Work toward this end had started by the George Bush administration in 2003/04. Apart from providing huge funds to tame Pakistani media, the US and western countries liberalized scholarship schemes. Bright students were selected from elite schools for higher studies. 70% of the scholarships were awarded to the girls.
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These students, like the Pakistani expatriates living in the West, were subtly absorbed into western culture using mind-cloning techniques. Similar therapy is given to the officers of the armed forces attending foreign courses and Pakistani expatriates living in western countries.
Impact on educated class and expatriates
The westernized students and the ex-pats were led to believe that the two political dynasties and the military establishment in Pakistan were white elephants gobbling up wealth, and corruption was the biggest curse that was eating the vitals of the country. (Barring the regimes that were shown the door by military coups, all other regimes were ejected on charges of corruption).
The educated class and the ex-pats became so thoroughly disappointed with corrupt practices and deplorable systems in vogue that they instinctively got mesmerized by Imran Khan (IK) when he promised New Pakistan free of corruption in 2011. The have-nots got thrilled by the idea of an Islamic welfare state. The liberal class fed up with Mullaism felt elated over the prospects of enjoying the fruits of liberalism freely. The ex-pats got exhilarated when they were promised to become vote casters and power sharers.
It was from among the liberal class which had given birth to the Women’s Freedom Movement. IK’s charisma attracted young boys and girls towards PTI and they filled up sit-ins and public gatherings of PTI from 2011 onwards. Music, songs and dance became a ritual of PTI gatherings. By the time PTI took over power in 2018, the westernized students had become mothers and fathers and had acquired high social status.
Welling up of hatred against senior army leadership
The change of regime through a vote of no confidence on April 9 brought a sudden change in the perceptions of the serving and retired armed forces officers and their families who had been supporting IK. Many sympathized with IK and disparaged Gen Bajwa. Indian and western media sprinkled oil on the hurt feelings of the IK lovers inside and outside the country and social media further added fuel to fire.
IK held the USA responsible for his ouster from power, and his mentor Gen Qamar Bajwa was unreasonably blamed for his failures. His narratives were accepted as gospel truth by his hypnotized fans. It sparked a countrywide hate senior army leadership campaign.
Enthused by his rising popularity, IK galvanized his followers to undertake long marches on May 25 and in Oct/Nov to force the imported PDM government to hold snap polls. So far all his offensive moves to achieve real independence have backfired. He now intends to play his last card by dissolving the PTI-run Punjab and KP provincial assemblies on 23 Dec.
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Analysts are of the view that given the wavering loyalties of his party leaders and allies, it will also backfire. Chief Minister Pervez Elahi has fired the first barrage on 18 Dec by admonishing IK, asserting that he would not accept Gen Bajwa’s vilification since he is IK’s benefactor.
Battle of minds not given due importance
While Pakistan managed to protect its strategic assets and territorial integrity tenaciously, it paid no heed to the intangibles and did nothing to combat the silent war of subversion directed towards slowly poisoning the minds of the people.
No effort was made to counter subversion and hybrid war, since our successive regimes considered the US, the mastermind behind covert operations, as their friend, and the US friends (India and Afghanistan under Karzai and Ghani) were also treated as friends.
No amount of explanations and clarifications by Pakistan could dispel the false narrative since it kept pursuing a policy of appeasement and failed to develop an effective counter-narrative to put the record straight.
Pakistan media and snakes in the grass instead of countering hostile foreign media bolstered the efforts of enemies of Pakistan.
Little effort was made to alleviate the complaints of less developed provinces and to inculcate in them a sense of nationalism and patriotism.
Impact on moral turpitude
When a conscious mother disappears, a dedicated teacher disappears, and there’s a downfall of role models, there is no one to teach the youngsters the ethics and values of life.
The prevailing moral standards of the people of Pakistan, both of the leaders and the led leave much to be desired! The institutions of the mother, the school teachers, religious teachers, elders, leaders, the mosque, were invaded by the two cultures of the West and India under a calculated program for a long time.
The purpose was to make us lose our identity, and to weaken our platform of religion upon which the Pakistani nation stood on 14 August 1947 with Pakistan’s flag in their hands, and under the resolute leadership of incorruptible Quaid-e-Azam MA Jinnah.
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Today the morals of the whole society have been comprehensively contaminated. The difference between evil and virtue, and between good deeds and bad deeds have been erased. Upright, honest and hardworking people who are in the minority, are seen as misfits and made fun of, while the corrupt are rewarded.
Corrupt practices and immorality are rampant, while obscenity and vulgarity are seen as signs of modernity and progress. Role models are extinct and can be read in history books only. Those claiming to be role models are fake.
Deceit, intrigue, thievery, fraud, cheating, graft, falsehood and hypocrisy have become our national traits. The glitter of materialism and the rat race has overshadowed religion and religious obligations.
While the so-called leaders are insincere, selfish, greedy and power hungry, the common people are gullible who get fascinated by phony slogans and false promises and vote them to power again and again.
Cult following is another curse which has plagued our society. This is the third time that a segment of society has come under the spell of a political leader presenting himself as a Messiah, the healer of chronic diseases and a destiny changer.
Net effects of cultural subversion
Results are before us. Minds of a large segment of Sindhis, the Muhajirs, the Balochis, and the Pashtuns have been poisoned, and similar tendencies of separatism have been injected into their minds, as was the case in former East Pakistan. Punjab is a house divided in inter-tribal and Baradari rivalries. People of South Punjab feel left out and some had joined TTP as Punjabi Taliban.
The seeds of dissension sowed in 2002/03 to clone the minds of the 3rd and 4th generation educated urbanites are being harvested now and furthered through the 5th generation hybrid war.
In the last 8 months, for the first time cracks appeared in the impregnable fortress of the Army. A segment of army officers and their families and majority of the army veterans influenced by IK’s magnetism, badmouthed Gen Bajwa and glorified IK. Senior army officers were vilified on social media. This trend had an adverse effect on the image of the army as a whole.
Although a slight change has occurred in their attitudes after the change of Army command on 29 November, the rumbling of irritation are still there. Gen Bajwa is still being scorned and hopes are pinned on Gen Asim Munir that he would erase Gen Bajwa’s fault lines and help IK in regaining power at the earliest.
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Gen Asim being a highly accomplished professional soldier, Hafiz-e-Quran, honest and upright, lots of hopes are pinned on him that he will be able to restore the high reputation and image of the army by keeping the army away from politics, doing away with VIP culture in the army and inculcating habits of simplicity and austerity.
Notwithstanding the deplorable meddlesome role of external powers in keeping Pakistan politically unstable and economically weak, our internal failings have a lot to do in enabling our adversaries to exploit our vulnerabilities.
The writer is retired Brig Gen, war veteran, took part in epic battle of Hilli in erstwhile East Pakistan, defence/security/political analyst, international columnist, author of five books. He can be reached at asifharoonraja@gmail.com.
The views expressed in the article are the author’s own and do not necessarily reflect the editorial policy of Global Village Space.